Softcover. Woodstock VT, Countryman Press, reprint, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 311 pages, b&w illustrations. Kate Austen was a young Australian nurse looking for adventure in the 1920s. She accepted an assignment working in a mission hospital in Labrador, Canada, and fell in love with the local people and harsh wilderness she found there. She also met and married her husband (the author) during her time in Labrador. Throughout the book, Kate relates in a no-nonsense voice the births, deaths, epidemics, injuries, burns and unusual medical cases she treated. She also tells affectionately of the people she served - trappers, wives, children, native Indians, fishermen, sailors, and various visitors. Some of the stories made me chuckle, and some of them made me hold my breath in suspense. She worked day and night to serve the community living around the hospital, which also served as general store and community center. The weather was dreadful most of the year, and they lived without running water, electricity, telephone, or indoor toilets. Kate reveled in the experience, often traveling hundreds of miles by dog-sled to treat sick people in out-lying homesteads. She loved the snow, ice, wind, and the dangerous ocean, and rarely complained about the primitive conditions or workload. Previous owner's inscription otherwise clean copy.
